Category: Casino Games

If you play poker or poker slots then you may not see the attraction of playing the alternative version of the game. However, there are some great similarities between the games in that you will still need similar hands to win and so the poker skill you have from either game will translate to the other and so if you know how to play one you will be able to play the other. However, there are some main differences.

When you play poker slots, you are playing against the computer, rather than real contestants. There are poker games where you play against the computer too but you would normally play against real contestants. Some people like the idea of this and others do not, so you will have to consider which will suit you the best.

With poker slots, you spin the reel like in a normal slots game, but get paid if you get a poker winning hand. These will differ depending on the specific game that you are playing but would normally include a royal flush, flush, straight, three of a kind etc. You need to find out which will pay out and how much so that you can decide which ones to go for. Continue reading “Differences between Poker and Poker Slots”→

Slot machines have been around in their various forms for well over a century. In fact, a contraption that resembles what we know today as a slot machine was first created back in 1891.

In a very snowy, Brooklyn, New York 1891, a couple of gentlemen named Pitt and Sittman put their heads together and came up with the machine that would pave the way to what slot machines would develop into over the coming century.

The machine the two men created took the form of a one-arm bandit. It housed five spinning drums which held up to 50 playing cards. This original format was far from the sort of slot games available today with their fancy music, bright lights and animations. This was more akin to a one-player poker game, where a player would insert a coin (most likely a nickel), pull the lever and wait to see which cards lined up on the drums and thus, what hand they would present.

As is true of the modern machines, the beauty of this original creation was that the odds could be manipulated. By removing the ten of spades and the jack of hearts the odds of winning a royal flush would double in favour of the house.

Due to technological limitations, this early machine did not have the facility to payout winnings; therefore it would be a case of the machine being located near a bar and a player being able to claim something for free as their reward for the winning line up of cards.

The presence of these machines spread like wildfire across bars in New York and soon players were gambling small change in the hope of landing a good poker hand which they would excitedly exchange for a pint, or whatever prize the house had advertised.

The glory days of this original machine were limited. At the hands of a different inventor, who no doubt had observed the invention of Pitt and Sittman loomed a new machine, a superior one.

Charles Fey’s machine would swap the playing cards for symbols and would reduce the amount of reels to just three with a total of just five symbols. This alteration would vastly reduce the number of winning combinations and thus make it much easier to advertise winning combinations.

Amongst the symbols that Fey devised was the Bell that he would choose to incorporate in the name of his machine. Somewhere between 1887 and 1895, the ‘Liberty Bell’ was launched.

Fey’s invention is credited as being the first slot machine to comprise of a mechanical payout system, with the highest payout being a princely ten nickels.

Liberty Bell was a raging success and predictably, ignited the interest of a great number of businessmen who in turn setup companies creating similar machines, thus starting the slot machine industry.

In 1907 Herbert Mills of Chicago developed his own take on the machine, which he named, ‘Operator Bell’. This machine would take over from the Liberty Bell in terms of popularity and would become commonplace in the majority of pubs, clubs and barbershops.

Nowadays slot games are available in many different forms in many of the places the original games would have once called home. The main difference now is technology. Advances in this area have made it possible to play these classic games online, on computerised machines and even on mobile phones. Here’s to the next century of slot machines!

Roulette is a popular game, a staple in every casino throughout the world, a game with an aura of glamour and class. This perception is perhaps afforded by numerous cultural references in films such as the Bond franchise. After all, James Bond had his very own Roulette strategy as described in a book by Ian Flemming. But there are many other things most of us do not know about this popular game.

Thai food and Indian cuisine are both equally brilliant, but put them together and you get something sublime! And as such, like many great inventions, roulette was not likely to have been a brand new idea in its entirety, but more a coming together, or a ‘fusion’ of many different inventions.

It seems likely that roulette is the love child of a plethora of different games, including Roly-Poly, Ace of Hearts, E.O. and Reiner, all from the family of English wheel games. Aspects seem to have been plucked from each of these games and thrown in the mix with features from the Italian board games Hoca and Biribi, and finally married together with an already existing French board game, called, Roulette!

So it would seem that roulette, a French word defined as ‘little wheel’, has a rich ancestry from very European roots and was conceived sometime during the 17th century. Behind the amalgamation mentioned above, is Blaise Pascal, the creation of this very first, primitive form of roulette is thought to have been little more than a by-product of Pascal’s quest to discover a perpetual motion machine.

The game has been enjoyed for centuries with the earliest known reference been in Paris, in 1796. The game is described in great detail in a book written by Jaques Lablee, published in 1801. Lablee described the game as having ‘exactly two slots reserved for the bank, whence it derives its sole mathematical advantage’.

The only earlier cultural reference that recounts the existence of a game called roulette was in 1758, a book of law for the New France settlement in Quebec, which outlawed a number of games including roulette and its sibling ‘hoca’. Unfortunately, we cannot confirm whether this early mention refers to the game, as we know it today and as it was indeed known in 1796.

The popularity of the game increased slowly over the 18th and 19th century and even during the earlier parts of the 20th century. A casino in Monaco and one in Vegas were the only establishments known to offer the game in the early years of the 20th century. It was not until during the 1970’s that the popularity of the game exploded.

The rise in popularity can largely be attributed to the rapid rise in the number of casinos that popped up across the globe. Nowadays it is thought that there are thousands of casinos around the world offering variations of roulette.

In the 1990’s to 2000’s roulette took the leap from the casino floors to the virtual surroundings of online casinos and even to betting shops and bingo halls as an ‘onscreen’ gaming experience. Even some online bingo sites, like Rocket Bingo or Mecca Bingo offer roulette alongside their bingo games.

As a result of interactive television roulette now has a home on certain TV channels, where the audience is invited to swap their role from mere viewers to fully fledged game players.

The most recent event in roulettes long spanning story is the games rise to popularity on mobile devices. We now see roulette is enjoyed on mobile devices and it has even been suggested the game may find a new home on a high tech wrist watch by Apple. What will come after this? Place your bets!

The world of the online slot machine is an area where game developers can thrive with their ingenuity. But sometimes it pays to just let the power of the product do the job for you. The movie industry is one of the most lucrative in the world. The stars get paid millions, the movies gross billions and the net result is a lot of happy punters around the world.

These day’s movies are franchises and their debut in the cinema often results in a plethora of other related merchandise, and the gambling sector is no different. Movies make for great slot machine themes as they attract the loyal fans of the movie itself. Here are just a few of the gems of our time that are available at online casinos for consumers to try to beat the odds and win some cash.

#1 Fantastic Four

Fantastic Four was released in 2005 and starred Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba, Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis as the super hero outfit Reed Richards, Sue and Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm. It was one of many releases from the world of Marvel Comics that has so far seen one sequel hit the screens when the Rise of the Silver Surfer debuted in 2007. We can see the reboot of this great movie in theaters now, so hit those slot machines as soon as possible.

#2 Rocky

The 1976 underdog classic, written by, and starring, Sylvester Stallone, is an iconic movie of our time and it translates wonderfully well to the world of slots. The original movie won three Oscars including best picture and has since seen many sequels hit the silver screen.

#3 Superman

With the eagerly awaiting ‘Man of Steel’ set to smash through our screens sometime in the future, the DC Comics star Superman is another great slot machine theme. Christopher Reeve brought Clark Kent to our silver screen when the original movie debuted in 1978 and it has spawned many derivatives of the same theme ever since.

Instant win, scratch cards, win-nows… whatever you call them, they are absolutely red hot this fall for a lot of reasons. First and foremost, today’s casino player is always on the hunt for something new, colorful, and interesting. If it can actually help them win extra money, then they’re all for it. If you want to add more fun to your list, then you have to check out new scratch card games.

They have plenty of different themes, just like slot games. The difference is that the mechanism works a little differently. You might have a pull tab or you might have some sort of gray area that you scratch off with a virtual coin. You can get a lot for scratch cards to play at once, or you can just use the scratch cards as you see fit. It’s completely up to you, but we think this is a great option.

Like slot games, you can find scratch card games at most online casinos. It’s important that you continue to look around for the best sources of entertainment. You’re already at home, so why not use your internet connection to have a good time.

Now, at this point, you might play some games and enjoy them. That’s always something that makes us happy, but you might wonder how to take the fun with you. If you can use the mobile casino apps, you can take the fun with you. Not every casino has a separate app interface for Android and iOS, but a lot of them have a mobile web interface that isn’t too bad. It’ll allow you to still access the casino, play the games, and even win a little money.

Finding the best casino for the mobile interface is just like finding one for the desktop. You might have to sift through a few reviews, but it’s all going to be worth it in the end. Make sure that you get started right now, while it’s on your mind!